


With Your Best Man by Your Side

by TeamHammerWeasel



Series: With Your Best Man By Your Side [1]
Category: Thor (Movies)
Genre: Arranged Marriage, Canon Divergence - Pre-Thor (2011), Crack Treated Seriously, Fantastic Racism, Idiots in Love, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, Jealousy, M/M, Odin (Marvel)'s A+ Parenting, References to Norse Religion & Lore, Sibling Incest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-21
Updated: 2019-07-30
Packaged: 2020-03-09 06:37:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18911557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeamHammerWeasel/pseuds/TeamHammerWeasel
Summary: Before Odin retires to Odinsleep, he has two announcements to make.First, Thor will be king after him.Second, to improve diplomatic relations with Jotunheim, Loki shall marry a high-ranking frost giant.





	1. Chapter 1

In spite of the late hour, Thor wasn't entirely surprised to see Loki separating himself from the shadows and joining his side. It was only when he kept following him towards the vault that he began to get curious.  
  
"Did Father ask to see you as well?"  
  
Loki smiled. "I could simply be keeping you company."  
  
In other words, he had. Though no-one was around, Thor lowered his voice till it was barely audible from the wind and rain outside. "Do you know what this is about?"  
  
"I have a guess." A frown crossed Loki's brow. "Though it doesn't explain why I should be present, as well."  
  
Thor meant to ask if he thought the preparations for a large-scale feast he had observed for the past few days were connected to what they were about to hear, but there was no more time for speculation: they had kept to a steady clip and now found themselves in the vault. They descended down the stairs in silence.  
  
Odin waited for them with his back to the stairs, observing the storm raging beyond the barbed windows. The magic locked within the Casket of Ancient Winters swirled around peacefully by comparison.  
  
"We're here, Father," Thor announced, likely needlessly.  
  
Odin nodded. "Good." He turned, glancing behind them to make sure they were alone before focusing.  
  
"My sons." His lone remaining eye glided from Thor to Loki. "It should come to you as no surprise that I am planning on retiring into Odinsleep."  
  
A quick glance to his side told Thor Loki was unfazed by the news. He was likewise: who wouldn't have noticed just how long the shadows on their father's face had grown. "How soon?"  
  
"In nine days' time."  
  
Thor exchanged an alarmed look with his brother, or at least attempted to: Loki kept his eyes directly ahead of him. Exactly how long in advance Odin announced his inevitable slumber varied as much as the onset of seasons, but such a hasty decision usually signified a long and sorely needed hibernation indeed.  
  
"Before that, however," Odin continued, focusing his gaze on Thor, "it is my wish to see you ascend to the throne after me."  
  
Concern gave way to elation. It was only Thor's desire to hear whatever else Odin might have to say that kept him from running outside and whooping till his lungs gave way, downpour be damned.  
  
Yet again, he turned towards Loki, but his brother hadn't moved a muscle. Thor wondered if this was in fact the eventuality he had been expecting.  
  
Odin cleared his throat. Seeing no reason to contain his grin, Thor turned his attention back to him.  
  
"There remains one thing regarding my legacy I wish to improve on before my retirement." Odin turned back towards the window and watched the rain fall before continuing. "While all I have done has been for the sake of Asgard, I feel I have left behind a bloodier trail than was perhaps strictly necessary."  
  
"I have never known a more just king than you, Father," said Thor, with feeling. Not once to his knowledge had Odin engaged in needless war.  
  
Odin allowed the statement to sweep by without so much as a change of expression. "As my last act as king, I would like to improve on the diplomatic relations between Asgard and Jotunheim. There is no need to wage war where a brittle peace can be readily solidified."  
  
"How?" Thor frowned. "You mean to return the Casket of Ancient Winters?"  
  
"In the future, perhaps. For now, I have thought of safer means to appease the Jotuns." As he said this, he turned his gaze to Loki. "And you, Loki, are vital to this plan."  
  
Loki blinked. "You wish for me to go to Jotunheim and act as an diplomat?"

"In a manner of speaking. I wish for you to be wed."

 

* * *

  
  
The storm outside continued unabated. It only seemed to grow more violent as Thor tried to come to grips with what he had just heard.  
  
Loki was equally silent. This announcement, at least, had come to him as a surprise, but that was all Thor could glean from his startled, frozen expression.  
  
Finally, Thor managed to untangle his tongue. "What?"  
  
Odin ignored him.  
  
"Father!" He protested when Loki still remained frozen. "You can't expect Loki to marry a frost giant!"  
  
"Be silent, Thor." Odin's voice was quiet, barely audible from the rain, but Thor found himself falling silent nevertheless. "Now is not the time."  
  
Slowly, like a bird waking up, Loki returned to animation. When he spoke, his voice was quiet and careful, betraying no emotion. "Am I expected to participate in finding a spouse for myself?"  
  
Odin shook his head. "King Laufey and I have already arranged you a suitable match."  
  
"What?!" Thor repeated, certain he had lost his mind. Again, his exclamation fell on deaf ears.  
  
A faint, uncertain smile rose to Loki's lips. "This is rather old-fashioned of you, Father."  
  
Odin grave expression remained unchanged. "Yes, it rather is."  
  
"To whom?!" Thor asked, so loudly that his words echoed all around the vault, possibly even outside of it. He didn't care. He needed answers.  
  
Finally, Odin deigned to acknowledge him again. "His name is Thiassi. I haven't met him in person, but he is one of King Laufey's most trusted advisors. From what I understand, he is rather wealthy as well."  
  
A man? It shouldn't have surprised Thor — he had toasted many happy couples irrespective of gender before and was personally well aware of the attractiveness of both sexes — but for some reason, the thought set his teeth further on edge.  
  
"I don't mean to be contrarian," said Loki, grasping onto the same point, his face and tone still entirely devoid of colour, "but I thought one of the key points of a diplomatic marriage was to produce children. I'm not precisely equipped to do that with this man."  
  
Odin shook his head. A flicker of some emotion crossed his face, gone before Thor could decide what it was. "That is not a concern. Thiassi already has an heir from a previous marriage, and Laufey made it clear he has no expectations of future offspring."  
  
Loki nodded, as though this response was actually sufficient. "Will we be married before or after Thor's coronation?"  
  
"Before." Odin took in a deep breath. "In fact, the event shall take place tomorrow."  
  
Thor had already been certain he had fallen unawares into some bizarre nightmare dimension, but this guaranteed it. In what world would Odin possibly wait till the last moment to inform his own son of something as life-altering as this? How could he possibly expect anyone to accept this?  
  
He couldn't stay silent any longer. "Father, this is an outrage! You can't—"  
  
Odin raised his palm towards him, keeping his eye on Loki all the while. When he spoke, Thor found himself falling silent just to hear what he had to say. "Loki. It is my hope this occasion is the beginning of long-lasting prosperity to both Asgard and Jotunheim, hopefully leading to an eventual alliance, possibly even a deeper union. Your skills are of the utmost importance in securing this future."  
  
Loki digested the words for a while. Then, to Thor's utter shock, he nodded once again. "I understand."  
  
Odin nodded back, sombrely, but with a suggestion of smile. "I knew you would. You have your mother's astuteness."  
  
Thor knew he was staring with his mouth gaping open, but he couldn't have stopped himself even if he wanted to. Surely he had misheard. Loki couldn't possibly agree to such an excessive demand without—  
  
"May I be excused?" Loki asked, interrupting his thoughts. "I wish to be well rested for tomorrow."  
  
"You may."  
  
Loki left at once. His steps were as calm as during any leisurely walk as he ascended the stairs and vanished into the darkness.


	2. Chapter 2

Once he was gone, Odin turned back towards the Casket of Ancient Winters. "You may leave as well."  
  
Thor didn't budge an inch. He doubted he could have, not without exploding.  
  
"This cannot be real."  
  
They were the only words he found to give shape to the ocean of outrage welling within him, but as he said them he found in them a sliver of hope. While he could no longer pretend he was dreaming, he could still suspect he was the victim of a practical joke. Any moment now, Odin's body would distort and assume Loki's shape, and his brother would laugh and ask how his All-Father impression was coming along.  
  
Only, Odin remained himself. Even taking Loki's acting abilities into account, Thor recognised with a sinking feeling his father's exact mannerisms as he turned to face him and raised his eyebrow at him. "What makes you say that?"  
  
Where to begin? He couldn't decide, and so they all came out at once as a mess of fragments. "Married? Tomorrow? To a frost giant?"  
  
Odin made no reply. He merely observed Thor as though he was secretly testing him. Based on the furrowing of his brow, Thor was failing that test.  
  
"I..." Thor's hands jerked with the urge to take something and toss it against the wall, but there was nothing within reach. Had he lost his mind? Surely anyone would agree what he had just witnessed was entirely beyond the pale, and if Loki refused to mount a protest, Thor would do it for him. Arranged marriages were more a thing of stories and legends than present life, and a marriage to a Jotun at all...  
  
"Why so suddenly?" he finally asked.  
  
When Odin next spoke, it was in a steady, terse tone. His patience was running thin. "My negotiations with King Laufey regarding the dowry took far longer than expected. Furthermore, I thought it better to leave your brother with as little time as possible to concoct schemes in the event that he, like you, failed to see the importance of this marriage."  
  
Thor balked. On occasion, he had seen vague hints of a certain cold-bloodedness behind his father's countenance, which he had found easy to ignore in the light of all the good in him. Even with that in mind, that he was so willing to trap his own son shook him.  
  
His hands curled into fists. "I call it cruelty."  
  
"I call it necessary pragmatism required of a king." The look Odin gave Thor was half a glare, but the other half was softer, almost regretful. "You would do well to remember Loki himself understood at once that Asgard as a whole is greater than any of us individually, and acted accordingly. If you cannot see as much, perhaps he and you ought to switch places."  
  
Thor's fists shook. "But to a frost giant, Father! How can you expect any of the Aesir to wed a Jotun?" A realisation came over him. "And the wedding feast is to take place here? How can you possibly allow those creatures in Asgard?"  
  
"As it happens, your brother is one of those _creatures._ "  
  
All air escaped Thor's lungs.  
  
"What?" he eventually managed to croak.  
  
Though he had sorely hoped to see it, nothing about Odin's expression suggested levity. "He was born in Jotunheim, and is of their blood. Even if you do not believe frost giants are worthy of your respect, you must see the sense in the match."  
  
Thor had no answer. This most recent revelation on top of the rest had finally struck him utterly mute.  
  
Odin gave him a meaningful look. "I expect you to keep this to yourself. I will inform him of his origins before he departs, assuming your mother isn't doing so at this very moment. I have no doubt he chose to seek her out rather than retire to bed."  
  
Loki didn't know he was a frost giant? It was a mere detail in the enormity of everything Thor was trying to comprehend, but the thought still clung to the forefront of his mind. "This cannot be the best path to peace."  
  
It flashed again on Odin's face, that emotion not unlike regret. This time, it lingered. "We all must do things we would rather not do for the sake of the realm."  
  
Thor stared at him. Odin had tried to instill the thought in him since he had been old enough to speak, but in the present moment, it felt more repugnant than ever. Certainly he had never dreamed duty meant betrothing his brother to another realm, his place of birth or not. If anything, he now had half the mind to declare war on Jotunheim as his first act as king.  
  
Something he couldn't do if Loki lived in the realm, an obvious target for retaliation in the event of hostilities...  
  
"The matter is settled," said Odin while Thor was still coming to grips with how deep his plan ran. "There is no need to look at me as though I'm sending your brother to be slaughtered. Few things are permanent in this world, marriages included."  
  
"But!" But he had no words. His urge to break bones was just barely kept in check by his love for his father, and beneath them bubbled a misery growing more vast by the moment, both forcing him silent once more.  
  
"The matter is settled," Odin repeated, in a tone that suggested that if Thor wished to voice further complaints, he would be receiving them with the business end of Gungnir.  
  
Thor took a shuddering breath, wound his fists more tightly, and stormed out of the room.

 

* * *

  
  
He felt only a little better after crashing into an empty hall and punching the first object he came across, an ugly chair which he had always hated anyway and was glad to see reduced to splinters. The second piece of furniture, a birch-wood bench, met the wall with a satisfying crash, but did very little to help his mood.  
  
He kept on with his tantrum regardless, sending furniture flying till not one item in the hall remained upright, then sat down on the floor, feeling suddenly empty.  
  
He had to be missing something. Surely his father wouldn't decide on something so outlandish without at least consulting Loki beforehand, any more than his brother could actually be a frost giant. And even if he were...  
  
His eyes swept across the mess he had made. He would receive nothing but splinters by breaking more benches, but what could he do? Get drunk and try to forget everything? Storm Jotunheim in a surprise assault to sever any chance of diplomatic reconciliation? His fingers were already itching to curl around Mjolnir's shaft and bash in some skulls.  
  
Still, he remained in place, his mind drifting back to the previous discussion. He couldn't stop thinking about the way Loki had assented to Odin's orders, his face pale in spite of his neutral expression.  
  
He stood up and set his jaw. First things first, he needed to speak with him.

 

* * *

  
  
The Bifrost was slick with rain as he rode across it with the first horse he had found, barely noticing the clouds had parted and unveiled the starlit sky.  
  
Heimdall looked on without surprise as he alighted by the dome, but then, few things appeared to surprise Heimdall in the first place. His expression remained unchanged as Thor made his query.  
  
"Your brother is with the Queen in the small hall by the eastern courtyard." His resonant voice was comforting in its calmness.  
  
Thor nodded. "What are they speaking of?"  
  
The left side of Heimdall's mouth tugged upwards. "I attempt not to pry on private conversations."  
  
"Of course." Under normal circumstances, Thor respected Heimdall's probity, but in the moment it chafed. No matter. He had found what he was looking for.  
  
He was already groping for his steed's reins to ride back when a question slipped by his lips. "What do you know of what is going on?"  
  
The golden gaze of Heimdall's eyes didn't waver for a moment. "I have been instructed to allow a delegation of frost giants to enter Asgard tomorrow, provided they are armed with nothing more than ceremonial weapons."  
  
Thor let his hand drop and bristled. It seemed everyone but he and Loki had known of the wedding in advance. "And you are fine with this?"  
  
"It is what the All-Father has ordered."  
  
Which was not the same thing at all, no matter how smooth Heimdall's tone. "You shouldn't let them in. For all we now, it's a trap."  
  
At those words, Heimdall turned his full attention to Thor. Though undaunted, Thor felt as though the watchman was gazing through him down to his marrow. "I shall keep an eye on them, naturally, but I do believe this to be a genuine diplomatic endeavour." The eyes narrowed. "Much like I believe it is not like you to distrust your father's judgement to this extent."  
  
Heimdall had a point. This was far from the first time Thor and his father didn't see eye to eye, but the angry flames which had flared up within him burned brighter than ever.  
  
"Loki shouldn't have to do this," he said, more to himself than to Heimdall.  
  
"Perhaps not." Heimdall turned and walked within the dome. After a moment spent tying the horse in place so it wouldn't wander off the bridge, Thor followed.  
  
Within, Heimdall observed the circular conduits lining the wall with characteristic calmness, but Thor thought he could see the edge of wistfulness on his face. He gave little notice to Thor, but rather than aggravating, he found the silence strangely comforting. He likewise gazed at the walls, reminiscing of how as a child, he had likened the spokes of the wheels to rays of sunlight.  
  
Eventually, Heimdall spoke again, his eyes still on the dome. "It's an inevitable truth that sometimes, one must make sacrifices for the sake of others."  
  
Thor nodded again, with a frown. It was the sentiment his father had shared earlier, and the word _sacrifice_ made him grind his teeth. But then, who in Asgard knew more about placing others first than Heimdall?  
  
"Does your brother agree with the plan?"  
  
"That's what I intend to find out."  
  
"Good." Heimdall looked over his shoulder towards the palace. "He has left your mother's presence."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
Heimdall kept watching him as he climbed onto the saddle and galloped across the bridge, his thoughts as black as the horse's dark mane.

 

* * *

  
  
Loki wasn't in his rooms, nor did a cursory search reveal his location to Thor. He was already striding back towards the Bifrost, fuming more by the moment, when it occurred to him Frigga might well know where he had gone. He changed course and soon found himself slamming open the door to his mother's abode.  
  
Fortunately, Frigga was still awake. She barely looked up from her spinning as he marched across the room and paused uncertainly before her, giving him a single reproving glance. "You are causing a ruckus."  
  
"Sorry." He wasn't actually sorry, but then Frigga wasn't genuinely cross with him, either. He heaved himself onto the unoccupied bench next to hers and watched as she continued turning the spindle like it was the only thing that mattered in the world.  
  
"Why didn't you warn him in advance?" He hadn't meant it as an accusation, but it came out as one anyway.  
  
Frigga's hands slowed down. "I only found out myself earlier tonight."  
  
"You mean Father didn't—" Thor interrupted himself as the meaning of the unusual tautness in her voice permeated through his skull. Though nothing about her demeanour or the careful manner in which she continued her handiwork suggested it, he had heard the same tone of voice before, and knew what it meant. Behind her cool mask, Frigga was livid.  
  
His suspicions were confirmed when she turned to look at him, her eyes blazing. However, she then closed them and took a deep breath, and when she continued, she sounded more like her usual patient self. "I was taken aback by your father's plan, but I cannot deny the logic to it." She resumed her spinning at a slower pace. "I wish we all had more time to adjust to it, but it can't be helped."  
  
Thor's fingers dug into his flesh through the fabric of his trousers. "And Loki?"  
  
Again, the hands paused. "Loki is... more accepting of the situation than I perhaps expected." The concealed anger was joined with a curious melancholy. "He told me he is rather looking forward to life in Jotunheim, in fact."  
  
Could he have already known he was a frost giant, and wished to live with his kin? Thor abandoned the thought at once. Whatever Loki's race, his home was in Asgard. "He must have lied."  
  
A hint of a smile from Frigga. "You know your brother well."  
  
Thor spent the ensuing silence steaming. Clearly she agreed the situation had been abominably handled indeed, and yet she sat there as though she was content to allow things to proceed.  
  
"We have to prevent the wedding," he declared.  
  
Frigga frowned. "I thought I told you he is content with the marriage."  
  
"He hasn't even met the man!"  
  
"Nor did I meet your father before our wedding feast."  
  
Thor halted. He had faint memories of hearing the story of his parents' wedding before, but right there and then he couldn't recall a single detail for the life of him.  
  
"Nearly all marriages were arranged by kin, back then." Frigga set her spindle and distaff aside next to her on the bench. "I knew your father only by reputation, and it was an ominous one. I will not claim I wasn't afraid on the day we were to be wed, but wed him I did." A fond smile rose to her lips. "And, as it happened, beneath the skin of a fearsome warlord beat a wise and kind heart. Not once have I regretted going through with it, even before you were born."  
  
Thor swallowed his uncertainty regarding whether Odin truly had a kind heart and allowed her to push his hair behind his ears before protesting. "But that was different. You weren't to wed a frost giant."  
  
"Did your father not tell you—"  
  
"He did," He didn't wish to hear the words uttered out loud again. "It's true, then."  
  
"And thus you know frost giants aren't that different from us." Frigga arranged her skirts before reclaiming her distaff. "Our cultures are unlike one another, perhaps, but our hearts are the same."  
  
Thor supposed it was possible that Jotun or not, Thiassi was an honourable man who would cherish Loki. The thought cheered him up far less than he wished it would. "It's still not right."  
  
For the first time since Thor had entered, Frigga smiled in earnest. "It may not warm your heart much, but I'm glad you are so concerned for your brother's well-being."  
  
Thor grunted and looked outside, where all was dark and silent. Of course he was worried. What brother wouldn't be?  
  
Frigga all but confirmed his opinion as she continued, her eyes on the spindle. "As it happens, one of my siblings protested my marriage most vehemently as well. He thought my future husband was little more than a bloodstained brute and feared for my life. He told me that if I said the word, he would prevent the wedding, by—"  
  
She paused abruptly, both her spinning and her tale. Carefully, she put the spindle back on the bench. "I suppose it hardly matters what his plan was. In the end, I chose to marry your father, and it was the correct choice."  
  
Thor nodded, trying not to frown and failing. He would have liked to know just what his uncle had had in mind, but Frigga's tone made it clear that particular story was very much at an end.  
  
"With that said... if Loki changed his mind, I will never force him to marry against his will. Neither will your father." Her new smile didn't reach her eyes. "You can sleep peacefully tonight."  
  
Thor nodded again, more out of habit than because he meant it. "I want to talk to him beforehand."  
  
"You should save it till tomorrow. The hour grows late." Frigga stood up, hiding her mouth behind her hand as she stifled a yawn. She gave Thor one last meaningful look. "When you see him, try to be supportive."  
  
He didn't bother agreeing or even saying much of a farewell as he stomped back into the corridor. How could he feign support of something that made his blood boil? Then again, he hadn't the foggiest idea what he would say when he finally found Loki. He was certain the words would come to him when they were needed.  
  
With that final thought, he set out to find him again.


	3. Chapter 3

Loki's rooms remained deserted. A part of Thor hoped it meant he had run away.  
  
Ultimately, he took Frigga's advice and headed off to bed, glaring at the ceiling till sleep caught him unawares. His slumber was restless: he woke twice in the dead of night, half expecting uproar in the wake of his dreams.  
  
The third time he awoke was later in the morning than he was used to and made him feel heavy and inert. Still, he wasted no time getting dressed and departing for another search.  
  
There were more servants hurrying along the corridors than he ever recalled seeing, no doubt preparing for their unexpected visitors from another world and the ensuing wedding feast.  
  
His mood thus soured, he swung open the door to Loki's rooms expecting it to find them as empty as they had been the night prior. The fact that they weren't startled him into stillness.  
   
Loki glanced briefly in his direction, then resumed adjusting his cuffs. "Come in."  
  
He stepped inside, then halted, suddenly uncertain. Loki's attire was always carefully selected, but the cut and splendour of his garb for the day was on a different level. He hadn't abandoned his customary greens, but it had been paired with enough gold to alter the entire general impression, making him look even more sleek and striking than usual.  
  
"How did you—" He fell silent as his mind answered his question for him. He had meant to ask how Loki had managed to order a wedding outfit in such a short span of time, only to realise he had to be wearing one of his old robes embellished with magic.  
  
"Hm?" Loki took a pass over his already immaculately kempt hair.  
  
"...It suits you, brother." Perhaps that would count as supportive enough for Frigga. It was the truth, if nothing else.  
  
"I should hope so." Loki finished toying with his hair and turned towards Thor. "Since you're here, you may as well help me with something."  
  
Thor secretly hoped it was a plot to temporarily disable the Bifrost, but instead Loki directed his attention to a pair of capes hanging from the door to his bedchamber. "Which of these do you think would go better with the rest of the ensemble?"  
  
Thor didn't really care, but he put an earnest effort into comparing the two nigh identical shades of green nevertheless. "The one to the left."  
  
"Really?" Loki took hold of its edge and stroked the rich material.  
  
"It better matches your eyes."  
  
The quick smile Loki gave him took the edge off his sour mood, but it returned as soon as he pulled the cape down and draped it across his shoulders.  
  
He tried to stay calm. "You really wish to go through with this?"  
  
Loki pinned the cape in place before answering. The colour did indeed complement his eyes, but Thor's attention was rather taken by the bitter smirk rising to his face. "Since he never bothered to pretend more than one of us could ascend to the throne, all these years I have wondered what Father meant when he said we were both born to be kings. Now I see it was Jotunheim's throne he had slated for me."  
  
Thor frowned. "Ought you not marry Laufey for that?" Assuming that wasn't already the case following a last-minute change in plans. At that point, it would have surprised him little.  
  
"That would make me consort, not king."  
  
"Then how does this marriage make you king?"  
  
"Perhaps I shouldn't tell you. It might be easier for you if you are truly surprised instead of having to pretend you are."  
  
Thor's frown deepened, but he needn't ask for clarification: in spite of his words, Loki sat down on a nearby settee, carefully straightening his cape behind him, then gestured at Thor to join him.  
  
"Father's talk of peace with Jotunheim is merely a smokescreen," he began as soon as Thor sat down. "He's planning a coup, or something alike at the very least.  Whatever it is, he requires someone loyal to him in the upper echelons of Jotun society for it to succeed, as close to King Laufey as possible. Hence," he gestured as his garb, "this opening gambit."  
  
The thought gave Thor pause. Such a scheme hadn't even crossed his mind, but it didn't appear impossible. Underhanded though it was, it almost made him feel better to know Father wasn't really suing for peace with the frost giants. But then, it did mean he was ending Loki alone to what would soon be a hornet's nest. "Did he tell you this?"  
  
"You were there when he hinted at it."  
  
Thor racked his brain trying to piece together just what Odin had said. He gave up and decided to take Loki's word for it. It wasn't what he was here for. "And you are willing to get married for such a plot?"  
  
Loki's silence lasted just a fraction too long to be natural.  
  
"It will be a brief affair, no doubt," was what he said when he finally spoke, with affected carelessness. "A small price to pay for Asgard's sake, I would say."  
  
The last statement was uttered in a spiky, sarcastic tone, but his jaw remained firm and his eyes unwavering. He had made up his mind, and Thor would have better luck moving mountains than making it otherwise.  
  
"Then I wish you happiness." His stomach turned. "I only wish I could be as certain of your fate as you yourself are."  
  
Loki tilted his head, playfully this time. "Concern for me, brother? It's hardly necessary."  
  
"You say that, but I cannot help but wonder."  
  
That removed the bitter cast from Loki's smile. He leaned towards Thor, his shoulder brushing against his. "In that case, how about a little something to set your mind at ease?"  
  
His gaze was unusually soft. In a moment of folly, Thor thought he was about to kiss him.  
  
Instead, he turned his head aside and whispered into his ear. "If at any point during the ceremony I change my mind, I will do this." He gave his wrist a brisk turn. Thor recognised the gesture as the beginning of a spell, but no magic followed. "That will mean what is happening is no longer my will. What you do with that knowledge is up to you."  
  
Thor nodded, swallowing to ease his abruptly dried throat. Why Loki had chosen to whisper when they were alone was one thing, but why had a kiss even crossed his mind? It would solve nothing. If anything, it would have made everything altogether bizarre. Who in the name of the Norns would kiss their own brother?  
  
In any case, having a secret signal was better than nothing. He tried to smile. "It won't be the same here without you."  
  
"I will be back before you know it." Loki's smile vanished like sunlight on an overcast day. "Did the frost giants arrive yet?"  
  
Good question. "Heimdall didn't specify a time when I asked him."  
  
"One would think they are here by now." Loki quirked an eyebrow. "If there is more you would like to do, you could go and find out more about my future spouse. I haven't had the time to learn anything of this Thiassi beyond what Father told us."  
  
Thor would rather have gone and tossed the whole lot down into the abyss beyond the Bifrost, but he wasn't going to say no to Loki on that day of all days. He got up. "I will see you later."  
  
He was already at the door when Loki called after him. "Thor?"  
  
He turned. Loki had stood up, but remained by the settee. The light from the windows reflected off of his finery, casting unusual shadows on his face. He was breathing visibly, as though gathering the courage to say something.  
  
Thor waited in silence for a while, his own breath quickening. "Aye?"  
  
Loki exhaled. "Please make sure you get changed first."

 

* * *

  
  
He obeyed Loki's request as far as trying to flatten his mussed hair while he walked, but that was where his grooming began and ended. Instead, he stopped the first servant he crossed paths with and asked where their visitors would be entertained before the feast, only to learn three members of the delegation had already arrived.  
  
He was shown to one of the more middling foyers of the palace, close to the main entrance; not particularly showy, but by no means an insult to anyone asked to wait there. Even without a guide, he could have told the frost giants were within from the wave of cold washing across him the moment he opened the door.  
  
Entering the hall was like stepping inside an ice storage, but he didn't allow that to stymie him. He closed the door behind him and met the Jotuns head-on.  
  
All three frost giants turned to look at him. They were dressed in what passed for formal attire in Jotunheim — which meant little in terms of actual garments — and looked all the more incongruous when surrounded by Asgardian furnishings designed for creatures with considerably smaller frames. Two were seated and partaking in some refreshments, while the third and most soldierly one of the trio stood directly to Thor's right, his back straight and his arms folded. The look he gave Thor was piercing, but curious rather than hostile.  
  
Thor knew a challenge when he saw one, but it would have to wait. His attention was mainly drawn to one of the seated frost giants, who appeared the oldest and had an amused glint to his blood-red eyes. Even sitting down, his eyes were on level with Thor's. Could Loki truly be their kin? Appearances aside, he was tall enough for Asgard, but these Jotuns would tower over him just as much as they did over Thor.  
  
He would wonder about that later. "Are you Thiassi?"  
  
"He is not here yet," the soldierly Jotun said. He had a deep, resonant voice that sounded like it was echoing from beneath a frozen lake. "The main delegation won't arrive here till after midday."  
  
Thor turned towards him and raised his chin. He could never match the Jotun's height, but he could match the intensity of his gaze. "Why is that?"  
  
"A change in plans. The old man ran into some trouble with a missing ox and decided to delay his journey. You could call us the advance guard."  
  
Thor's hand automatically went to his weapon, only for him to realise the frost giant wasn't mocking him. His expression was perfectly grave, if somewhat bored, and in fact bore a striking resemblance to Loki's during particularly dull official functions.  
  
He eased his stance. "Thiassi is an old man, then?"  
  
The frost giant shrugged. "No older than many others. To whom am I speaking?"  
  
"Thor, son of Odin."  
  
The frost giant raised an eyebrow. "The crown prince himself. You may call me Byleistr."  
  
So, Byleistr knew who he was, yet refused to show any deference? To his surprise, Thor found it almost refreshing. He wondered if they'd have enough time before or after the feast to head off to the sparring grounds and see who was the better warrior. "You know why I am here, then."  
  
"It's not to flail around with your little hammer and try to chase us away, I hope," the younger of the seated frost giants chimed in.  
  
Byleistr shot him a look not unlike the kinds Frigga tended to use when she disapproved of Thor's behaviour: not hostile, but firm. He returned his attention to Thor. "No doubt you wish to know about your brother's betrothed."  
  
Thor said nothing, trusting his answer to be obvious from his countenance.  
  
Byleistr leaned back against the wall, relaxing. "As you likely know, he is a wealthy man. Not the greatest warrior, but an excellent hunter, and known for his cunning. He is one of King Laufey's most trusted men and well respected."  
  
"And do you believe my brother will find him agreeable?"  
  
"That I couldn't say." But the sudden narrowing of Byleistr's eyes suggested he could guess.  
  
Thor's heart sank. "I see."  
  
"There is no reason to be downcast." Byleistr's tone was kindlier than anything Thor would ever have expected from a frost giant. "Your brother will adjust to Jotunheim in no time."  
  
Thor looked at him in surprise. Not only was it clear from Byleistr's tone that he knew of Loki's heritage — not by itself that strange — but as far as Thor could tell, he was trying to offer genuine words of comfort. He wasn't successful in the least, of course, but Thor appreciated the effort.  
  
"I hope so. For your sake as well." To respect the frost giant's civility, he kept the threat merely implied.  
  
Byleistr's eyes flashed, but he said nothing. Thor took this as his cue to leave, only to be addressed as soon as he turned his back to the hall.  
  
"We will see you at the feast, Son of Odin."  
  
It was the eldest frost giant who had spoken. He wore a curious expression: not malicious, precisely, but neither inspiring confidence. It was the look of an opponent who saw twenty steps ahead on the board and was waiting for their opponent to move their piece into a trap.  
  
Thor shot him a glare and strode out.  
  
Once back in the corridor, he halted by a nearby window, relishing the sunlight warming his skin. He hadn't learned much, but a little was better than none, and he was sure Loki could glean further details from anything he could tell him.  
  
Before he could go share his knowledge, however, Odin arrived, in full regal splendour and flanked by a full suite of guards. He paused before Thor, looking at him up and down. "That will have to do. Come."  
  
Thor sighed and followed. What was so inappropriate about his dress that everyone saw the need to comment on it?  
  
In any case, there was no time to do anything about it. They strode straight to the Bifrost, where a retinue of two dozen frost giants awaited them.  
  
The guards already at the gate dared not move a muscle, but Odin approached without hesitation. He planted Gungnir's shaft against the paved ground and greeted Thiassi with a deep nod usually reserved only for the highest lords and ladies. "Welcome to Asgard."  
  
The Jotun at the front of formation nodded back, his mouth twisting into a grin. "It is my pleasure, surely."  
  
Thor narrowed his eyes. Was this Thiassi? He wasn't quite as old as he had thought based on Byleistr's words — even knowing it unlikely, he had pictured a snowy beard and wrinkles akin to his father's. Unlike the other frost giants, he had made an effort to match his dress to Asgard's standards, or at least, Asgard was what Thor assumed his loose-hanging robe was meant to evoke.  
  
All the same, Thor took an instant dislike to the man. There was something furtive and weaselly about his narrow face and cold eyes, and while Loki possessed the same features, in him they were lovable in equal measure to how much in Thiassi they were punchable.  
  
Another frost giant with an elaborate fanged necklace separated himself from the group and bowed at Odin. "King Laufey sends his most cordial regards and regrets he could not be here for the occasion."  
  
"Inform him that his words have been well received and that he has Asgard's friendship both now and in the future." Odin's face remained as calm as a statue's, but Thor thought he saw a hint of annoyance on it regardless. Had Laufey been expected? If so, this was a grave insult indeed.  
  
Whatever the case, Odin proceeded to carry himself with all his kingly dignity as he returned to addressing Thiassi. "If you would, we have prepared rooms for you and your retinue." A guard promptly stepped forward, ready to show their guests in.  
  
Thiassi's grin widened. "I see Asgard's reputation for hospitality has not been misplaced."  
  
Thor made an effort to breathe. Though nothing Thiassi had said was in any way inappropriate, the more he spoke, the closer Thor's blood rose towards the boiling point.  
  
As the frost giants passed, Thiassi's eyes swept across the Aesir, and lingered on Thor. Thor responded with his ugliest glare, wishing their first meeting had taken place on a battlefield instead.  
  
For some reason, Thiassi seemed amused by the open hostility. He smirked, then followed the guard and the rest of the visitors inside.  
  
"You should change into your regalia." It took Thor a moment to realise Odin was addressing him. "We will begin the feast as soon as the guests have settled in."  
  
"Aye." It was clear no-one cared that such a feast was the last thing Thor wanted.  
  
Still, he thought as he marched back to his rooms to see if he could find something presentable enough, at least he now had a way of knowing if Loki wanted to end the proceedings. How he would prevent the wedding if he saw their agreed upon sign, he didn't know yet, but he would think of something.  
  
And, regardless of how that turned out, at least there would be plenty to drink at the feast.


	4. Chapter 4

For all the well-crafted dishes served, Thor couldn't help but count the number of people seated on the cross-benches and think the feast was a modest one for sending off one of the princes of the realm.   
  
He downed another cup of ale to drown out the thought, and received a sharp glance from Lady Sif over from the Aesir's cross-bench. He ignored it and raised his cup to be filled again. Yes, he was drinking heavily. He had every right under the circumstances.  
  
While he waited for the drink to be poured, he took closer stock of his surroundings. Though the mood in the banquet was relaxed enough, there was a definite undercurrent of tension. With the exception of the occupants of the high bench, the Aesir and Jotuns were seated and only conversed amongst themselves, casting surreptitious glances at the members of the other race. Though none of the guests were heavily armed — Thor himself had been asked by his Odin to leave Mjolnir behind, though the All-Father yet maintained a grip on Gungnir — neither the frost giants nor gods would have dreamed of showing up without some kind of a weapon. If anything were to go wrong, things would get bloody and fast.  
  
As he eyed the Jotuns' bench to see exactly what kind of blades they carried, he spotted the three frost giants he had met earlier, seated next to one another and engaged in quiet conversation. His eyes briefly met with Byleistr's when the frost giant looked up, and they exchanged a nod of acknowledgement.  
  
After Byleistr returned to his discussion, Thor sighed and downed his cup, which had been filled in the meanwhile. If Loki had to marry, why couldn't it have been someone like him?  
  
He looked to his right on the high bench. Frigga was seated next to him, eating like a bird, her polite expression revealing nothing. Beyond her sat Odin, of course, more presiding over than participating in the feast. Near the opposite side of the bench sat the frost giant who Thor had pegged as Thiassi's daughter, drinking as though the mead was about to run out and casting surly looks at everyone present.   
  
There were others, of course, but Thor barely noticed them. As soon as his eyes crossed them, his full attention was occupied by Loki and Thiassi, seated at the centre and sitting so close to one another their arms nearly touched.    
  
They made for a mismatched pair, from size to attire, and had Thor walked into the hall unawares, he would never have guessed they were to be bound together in wedlock as soon as the feast was over. Surely Loki must have wondered the same, but he might have been an ice sculpture for how calmly he sat. He mostly kept his eyes directly ahead of him as he sipped from his cup. Thiassi drank more heavily, and kept giving covert smiles at his soon-to-be spouse, all of which made Thor wish he knew enough magic to set his mead aflame.  
  
A considerate servant had filled Thor's cup once more while he had looked the other way. He gulped the drink down, barely noticing it was mead rather than ale. Usually, this was around the time he would stand up and give his blessings to the happy couple, but he remained firmly seated. Let others offer blandishments. He would rather keep watching Loki's hands on the off chance he made the secret gesture.  
  
The general murmur petered out as Odin rose, a gold-embossed drinking horn in hand. "I would like to take this opportunity to thank all who have come to honour what I hope is the beginning of a thousand years of prosperity and mutual respect between Asgard and Jotunheim."  
  
From the way his voice carried across the hall, no-one would have guessed he was a week away from another Odinsleep. While the audience listened, Thiassi placed his hand on Loki's arm and didn't remove it even when Loki turned to glance at it.  
  
Odin raised his horn. "To the future."  
  
A brief pause followed as empty cups were filled, after which the audience gave a muted cheer and obediently followed the All-Father's lead.  
  
Thor poured his drink down his throat. Ale again.   
  
As soon as he set his cup down, Thiassi patted Loki's arm and rose, holding out his cup for another refill.  
  
"I wish to thank the All-Father for his kind words," he began after the drink was poured, smarmier than a self-satisfied snake. "I am sure I speak for both myself and my spouse when I thank you for your well-wishing, and the warm welcome you have given my kin. I assure you I will do all I can to provide him with all the delights of wedded life, as well as treat him with all deference due to him."  
  
He raised his cup for a toast, and the party responded to him in the same lukewarm manner they had to Odin.  
  
Thor let his mead remain in its cup and strained to listen instead. His eyes were fixed on Thiassi as he sat down again, and, putting his drink down, got his slimy fingers on Loki again.  
  
"I see you are a man who chooses his words carefully," said Loki, just about audible above the general din of conversation.  
  
Thiassi chuckled. "I have heard rumours of your silver tongue, likewise." He ran his hand up and down Loki's arm in a manner entirely inappropriate for a wedding, leaning down so close Loki could no doubt smell his breath.  
  
"They are surely exaggerated." As collected as his voice was, Thor knew Loki well enough to see he was struggling to keep his shoulders down. He glanced again at Thiassi's wandering hands and inched slightly to the left.  
  
Thiassi quickly followed till their shoulders were once again flush against one another. "I will have plenty of time to discover that for myself, surely."  
  
Thor saw red. He was already rising from his seat when Frigga placed a warning hand on his arm and gave him a meaningful look. _Don't cause a scene.  
_

He settled back down, seething. How long was he supposed to listen to this kind of talk without acting?   
  
"Speaking of discoveries," Thiassi continued, lowering his voice to where Thor had to struggle to make out the words. "I couldn't help but notice that while I was making my toast, you kept staring at one of Laufey's bodyguards."  
  
"Oh, yes?" Loki turned his attention to the Jotuns' cross-bench. "I was observing his necklace."  
  
Thiassi's smile widened. "I am sure you were." Again, he rubbed Loki's arm, as though trying to feel his skin through the fabric. "It is quite alright if your eyes wander, my dear bride. After all..." He leaned closer still and cupped his hand around Loki's ear, whispering something Thor couldn't catch no matter how he strained his ears.  
  
He could, however, see Loki's reaction. For a moment, as Thiassi pulled away, his brother's carefully maintained politeness faltered, and he stared at the previously singled out frost giant with startled eyes. As quickly as he recovered his earlier mild expression, the frozen horror that had crossed his face was by then permanently etched onto Thor's mind.   
  
"Does that surprise you, my dear?" Resting one hand against Loki's elbow, Thiassi reached for his cup. "Has no-one taught you about the customs of Jotunheim? Is it not considered good manners in Asgard to share all of one's possessions with one's closest friends?"  
  
Loki's fingers twitched, then settled back down. "Not in the manner you described, no."  
  
"It is becoming a lost tradition in Jotunheim as well." Thiassi shook his head, then smiled once more with all his teeth. "All the more reason why I intend to uphold it to its fullest extent."   
  
Loki's expression remained a fixed mask, though he was obviously trying to lean away. He raised his hand, but just as quickly he put it back down.  
  
Forget the sign. Thor had heard enough.  
  
He shot to his feet, and, ignoring Frigga's warning glance, hurled his cup against the floor. The crash as it broke brought all eyes to him, but he focused his glare exclusively on Thiassi. Grasping for Mjolnir, only belatedly recalling he had been forced to leave it behind and only carried a ceremonial blade, he nevertheless pointed at the frost giant without the slightest hesitation. "I challenge you to single combat!"  
  
Thiassi blinked, his lingering grin fading faster than summer snow. "I beg your pardon?"  
  
"It's Loki's pardon you should be begging." Thor separated himself from the table and took a threatening step towards the still seated frost giant, boiling wrath fuelling his each move. "You are not worthy of grovelling at his feet, let alone marrying him."  
  
There was a clatter as Thiassi's daughter sprang to her feet. "How dare you speak to my father like that?"  
  
She wasn't the only one to stand up. From the corner of his eye Thor saw several other frost giants rising to their feet, and as many of the Aesir following suit. The tension that had been lying dormant was rising to the surface as fast as an arrow's flight.  
  
Thiassi pushed himself off his seat. "Seat yourself, Skadi." He turned to sneer at Thor. "Is this sort of abuse what all visitors to Asgard have to contend with? I will not listen to the yapping of some cocksure boy who has likely never whetted his blade in real combat."  
  
Thor bristled. "I shall give you all the real combat you want and more."  
  
By then, most of the guests were on their feet, and there was audible sharpness in the air as the first swords left their sheaths. In the back of his mind, Thor knew he was inciting an international disaster, but what else could he do? He would strangle Thiassi with his bare hands before he backed away.  
  
"Enough!"  
  
For a heartbeat, Thor was so certain it was Odin who had spoken that he heard the exclamation in his voice. It was only when he looked to his side and saw that while Odin had indeed risen up, his attention was drawn elsewhere, that he realised it was Loki who had intervened.  
  
There was an awkward pause as Aesir and Jotuns alike swivelled their heads towards him.  
  
Loki took a deep breath. Keeping his back entirely straight, he turned towards Thor."Everything is fine, Thor. Please be seated."  
  
Thor hovered uncertainly for a moment, adamant that sitting down was the last thing he wanted to do, but when Loki kept looking him directly in the eye, neither angry nor aggrieved but unyielding all the same, he reluctantly took a step back and sat back down.  
  
Loki nodded and turned to address Thiassi. "Please forgive my brother for his outburst. I assure you he meant none of it. He has a weak head for drink and has over-indulged himself."   
  
Thiassi continued to glower, but he gave a curt nod and sat down likewise.   
  
Though a few of the guests shuffled awkwardly, most remained fixed in place like a gallery of statues as Loki turned his attention to the hall. His voice rang clear over the hushed silence. "I ask you to forget this little incident and continue with the feast. It is my greatest desire that my wedding should be the occasion for unity and celebration, not discord."  
  
A murmur ran through the crowd. Slowly, weapons were sheathed, and soon enough the benches were once more fully occupied. Loki presided over the armistice with his head held high. There was a cast of kingliness to his face Thor had never seen before, and couldn't help but stare.   
  
As the last of the Aesir shuffled back to their seats, Loki exhaled softly and made to sit down as well. As soon as he did so, the sound of a single person clapping rang from the Jotuns' table.  
  
"Well spoken, young one. Well spoken indeed."  
  
It was one of the three frost giants Thor had initially met, and who he now realised was one of the few who had remained seated during the entirely of the altercation. His piercing eyes were fixed on Loki.  
  
Loki hesitated. "To whom may I address my thanks for these kind words?"  
  
"Perhaps this will answer your question." The frost giant swept his palm across his face. As soon as he had done so, his features began to distort: his nose shortened, his brow widened, and his cheeks hollowed out, leaving behind a sharp-edged, thin countenance. A moment later, Thor found himself staring at a different man entirely. Only the eyes remained intact, sunken and red.  
  
He didn't know what the change meant exactly, but he felt a jolt of shock run through the Aesir's side of the hall, and knew it couldn't be good.  
  
As soon as he had thought that, Odin returned to his feet. "King Laufey. It is an honour."  His voice was placid enough Thor began to doubt he had been taken wholly by surprise. "Had you made your presence known sooner, I would naturally have reserved you a seat on the high bench."  
  
Thor blinked. This was the king of Jotunheim? He didn't know what he had expected, but this venerable frost giant wasn't it.  
  
Laufey raised his hand. "Hence this little ruse, King Odin. I wished to observe how my son bears himself from a different vantage point." As he spoke the words, his piercing eyes returned to Loki.  
  
Loki looked as though all life had been struck out of him.   
  
Laufey observed both his shock, the grim silence of Odin and Frigga, and the general alarm from the Aesir's table with a quiet smile. Before anyone had time to recover, he continued: "From what I have seen, you carry yourself well enough for Asgard. Perhaps, in due time, we will make you a proper Jotun yet."  
  
Loki had no reply. He stared at Laufey as though the king had spontaneously grown an additional head.  
  
"Thank you, King Laufey," said Odin, finally breaking the spell-like silence that had kept them all trapped, his voice so level Thor had no idea what he thought. He gestured at the servants to fill everyone's cups once more, then raised his horn. "To Jotunheim and Asgard."  
  
The guests murmured and followed suit. Thor ignored his own drink in favour of watching Loki. His brother had sunken his seat and mechanically reached for his cup, holding it without taking a single sip.   
  
"Did that startle you, my dear?" Thiassi's voice was more honeyed than even the mead, audible above the murmurs that had risen in the hall. "I suppose it isn't every day one learns they come from such noble stock." He placed his cup on the table and began stroking Loki's arm once more. As his hand glided near Loki's wrist, his fingertips brushed against the back of his hand. Thor could have sworn he saw a tinge of emerging blue.  
  
Loki noticed the same thing. He extracted himself and stood up. "If you will excuse me, I have to go and ensure that my belongings are being packed in a suitable manner. I have some rather fragile things I wish to take with me."  
  
"There is little room for fragile things in Jotunheim." And yet, Thiassi waved him off without much concern. "Do not leave me waiting."  
  
Loki nodded and walked away with his head held high. Thor tried to catch his eye, but he passed by without so much as a glance.  
  
While Thor was still angling after him, half risen as though his body had decided on its own to follow him, Frigga lay a cool hand on his elbow. "You are much too old to allow your temper to get the better of you in such a manner."  
  
"You heard how he spoke of him," Thor hissed back as he re-seated himself, then felt bad as he saw the pain in Frigga's eyes. "You cannot pretend you are any happier with this match than I am."  
  
"I'm sorry to hear you find one of my most trusted men so disagreeable."  
  
Both Thor and Frigga turned around. King Laufey stood behind them, sporting the same cryptic smile he had while first unveiling himself.  
  
Thor stood up. The frost giant would tower above him no matter what he did, but he felt better rising to the challenge. "What do you want?"  
  
"Thor." Frigga's voice was quiet, but firm. A warning.  
  
However, Laufey seemed, if anything, amused. "A word with your mother, if she will deign to hear it."  
  
Frigga's head barely moved as she nodded. "I am at your disposal."  
  
"King Laufey," Odin interrupted, leaning subtly against Gungnir as he rose. "Will you not join myself and Thiassi for a drink to your health?"  
  
"I shall." However, Laufey kept his eyes on Frigga. "It is my understanding you have educated my son in the ways of sorcery."  
  
"Myself among others, yes." Frigga's tone was careful. "He had the talent."  
  
Laufey inclined his head. "I thank you for it. From the look of him, being a sorcerer is just about the loftiest goal he could aspire to."  
  
"My brother is highly skilled," said Thor, annoyed at being so summarily ignored and emphasising the initial word. There was something dismissive about Laufey's tone that made his skin crawl.  
  
"I do not doubt you." Laufey's smile widened as he turned towards Thor, like he was laughing at some private joke. "I can assure you we will find him a position in Jotunheim perfectly suiting his talents."  
  
He gave a courteous nod to Frigga, paying no heed to the suspicion gleaming in her eyes, and walked over to join Odin.  
  
Thor sat back down. His hands were shaking. He made a fist to steady them.  
  
The feast soldiered on towards its inevitable conclusion, the mood so frosty they might as well have held the celebration in Jotunheim in the first place. Thor accepted the replacement cup brought to him while the old one was swept away, and attempted to focus on his plate, but all food and drink had lost its flavour. Though he had known the marriage meant they would be separated for some time at the very least, he felt with a growing dread that once Loki left, he would never see him again.  
  
No. He wouldn't allow it. He'd find a way, even if it meant going to Jotunheim himself and bringing Loki back to Asgard. Of course, it would be better if he could prevent the marriage from taking place in the first place.   
  
He needed a plan, and fast. Though new dishes were dutifully brought to replace depleted ones, fewer and fewer people were partaking in more than a few nibbles. Even Volstagg, who Thor knew could outlast almost everyone at the table, was barely eating. There was nothing left but a closing toast and then, all too soon, the actual binding ceremony.  
  
As if on cue, Odin spoke up, free from his hushed discussion with Laufey now that the frost giant had returned to sit among his brethren. "Loki is taking too long."  
  
Thor made to get up. A kingdom for a few minutes alone with Loki. "I will go fetch him."   
  
"Sit down. I shall send someone—" But before Odin could finish his sentence, an out-of-breath servant rushed into the room and made his way directly towards the high bench.  
  
"Message to you from Lord Heimdall, sire," he said in a low, breathy voice which Thor could barely catch. "When he last surveyed our realm just now, he saw no sign of Prince Loki."  
  
"What?" Had the message come from anyone else, Odin would surely have asked them to double-check, but Heimdall made no mistakes. "How can that be possible?"  
  
"I do not know, sire. But it is the truth."  
  
"Go and see to his rooms." But it was obvious Odin knew the messenger would find nothing, and that he was already feverishly trying to come up with what he would tell their guests.  
  
Thor exchanged a look with his mother. Though obviously alarmed by the gravity of the situation, he thought he saw a hint of relief in Frigga's eyes.  
  
He wished he could have been relieved, too. Instead, he felt bewildered. Though any delay to the marriage was a welcome one, he couldn't shake his fear that Loki's departure from the hall was the last he would ever see of him.  
  
His hand groped for one final cup of mead. He downed it without a second thought.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was out of town yesterday, but we should be back on track to finish this tomorrow. I'll almost certainly have to add an epilogue at a later time, but till then, I hope you enjoy the ride. :)

The ensuing maelstrom mostly passed him by as though he had somehow found safety in the eye of the vortex. He was excluded from his parents' negotiations with the frost giants like he was an ill-mannered child rather than the soon to be king. Perhaps, following his outburst, he was no longer the latter.  
  
Usually, he would have pressed the issue, but he found himself barely noticing the cladestine dealings and cared about them even less. He struggled to focus on anything but Loki, or rather the absence of him, and wandered around well into the night, seeking what he well knew wouldn't be found anywhere in Asgard.  
  
It was still dark outside the following morning when Odin summoned him. He dragged himself out of bed, with no recollection of how he had ended there the night before, and hurried to him.  
  
By the haggard look to him, his father had managed even fewer winks than Thor had. Idly, he wondered just how long into the night he had attempted to untangle the web of disaster the wedding had become.  
  
Odin spoke not a word of it. Indeed, he spared him all preamble. "I want you to go to Midgard and fetch Loki."  
  
"By myself?"  
  
"I trust you to be capable of it. Even as children, you were the only one who could reliably catch him."  
  
"When we were playing games, Father." And not when the playing field was a world he was barely familiar with. "This is hardly hide-and-seek."  
  
Odin turned sidelong and continued as though he hadn't voiced his concerns. "Go speak with Heimdall. He has finally located your brother and will guide you as close to him as possible."  
  
His words had a note of finality to them, one Thor chose to ignore as thoroughly as Odin had his previous misgivings. "You cannot still expect him to marry that man."  
  
Odin sighed. For an instant, he looked exhausted enough to fall into Odinsleep right there and then. "Whether the wedding shall proceed remains to be seen. Regardless, if Loki isn't here, we cannot even begin to discuss how he would like to proceed."  
  
It was true enough, and the more Thor thought about it, the more hopeful he felt. He had essentially been granted a golden opportunity to confront Loki alone and find out what he wanted first-hand. He nodded. "I will retrieve him, then."  
  
"I know you will not let me down."  
  
The unspoken _unlike_ hung in the air until Thor decided he had imagined it.

 

* * *

  
  
Heimdall was expecting him and let him pass without a word. It was only when he took his place in the dome that he addressed him. "He is in the northern hemisphere of Midgard, in a woodland by a sparsely populated area."  
  
Thor frowned. "That doesn't sound like him." Knowing Loki's usual taste, he had expected him to find himself a rich benefactor in a major settlement and enjoy the high life for as long as possible.  
  
"Perhaps he thought an unusual location would keep him better hidden." Heimdall gave a shrug so minute Thor would have missed it if he had blinked at the wrong moment. "Or perhaps he had little choice of where he travelled."  
  
Though Heimdall's voice remained neutral, what he said gave Thor food for thought. "How did he make it to Midgard? He couldn't have used the Bifrost." Magic was involved, surely, especially if he had also avoided Heimdall's sight for so long.  
  
He assumed he had struck a sore spot, but when Heimdall turned to look at him, his gaze was characteristically steady. "I would prefer not to lie to you."  
  
Thor waited, but Heimdall didn't continue. He was just about to demand an explanation when the meaning of the both the words and the silence dawned on him. If the two ways out of Asgard were the Bifrost and magic, and Heimdall had no reason to lie if Loki had used magic...  
  
Too stunned to consider how he felt of what was technically treason, he only managed, "I thought you were on the side of sacrifices."  
  
For the briefest of moments, Heimdall closed his eyes. "I do believe personal sacrifices for the sake of others are often necessary." The golden glow of his irises was all the more intense for having been gone, like the sun returning from behind black clouds. "However, I likewise believe such sacrifices should be voluntary."  
  
They stared at each other in silence. Slowly, Thor began to grin.  
  
Even if he didn't yet know what he would do when he actually found Loki, he already felt leagues better as he blazed through space towards Midgard.

 

* * *

  
  
When he arrived, it was spring. Thin, proud birches freshly crowned with bright leaves waved gently in the breeze all around him as he took in the forested hillside he stood on. Spying a distant lake glittering in the valley below, surrounded by greeneny, he began to understand why Loki had hidden in these woods of all places. They looked like home.  
  
He took a few tentative steps through the patch the blossoming blueberry stalks he had landed in, wondering whether to climb further up or to descend. Even in childhood, Loki had been attracted to higher places, but if he knew he was being pursued — and surely he must have known — he might have specifically disobeyed his usual instincts to confuse his chasers.  
  
Following his gut feeling that Loki wished to lay low in a literally low place, Thor wandered down into the valley.  
  
He had every faith Heimdall had deposited him as close to Loki as he had considered safe, but as he walked, he was still taken aback by the utter stillness of the forest. There was little sound but that of his own footsteps and breathing, and next to no wind to carry either as though it had been purposefully hushed. If a passing fox had sauntered over and told him he wasn't in Midgard at all, but that Heimdall had instead shrunk him and placed him in a miniature, he wouldn't have found the news all that surprising.  
  
As soon as he thought that, he spotted movement in the corner of his eye, gone too fast for him to catch more than its shadow. Had the fox of his imagination come to life? Hardly.  
  
It might have been a kind of fox, all the same. Nothing to it but to follow and hope he wasn't merely chasing a startled squirrel.  
  
As he kept moving, the fresh air made him forget the context of the hunt and instead took him back to his childhood. Odin's comment from earlier had been true: he had had an uncanny ability to find his brother no matter how cunning his hiding place even after all other seekers had given up. He smiled, and considered where he might have gone in woods such as their current one.  
  
He had just begun to think how there ultimately wouldn't be that many hiding spots beyond the trees themselves, not when the underbrush was so low, when he first saw the gleaming statue.  
  
He approached, curious. The statue stood next to an exceptionally tall pine tree, all the more radiant for its strange company. It depicted Valkyrie in full armour, sword held aloft, empty eyes gazing steadily ahead, and was so similar to statues he had seen at home he half assumed it was an exact replica of a piece in Asgard.

He had only admired the statue for a moment before he squinted. There was something understated about the carved face, a sadness which hardly ever made it to pieces otherwise signalling triumph, but more than that he questioned its location. Why would such a home-like work of art be there, in the middle of a mundane forest in Midgard?  
  
He was already on the move when the answer came to him.  
  
As a distraction.  
  
His swerve to the left was instinctual rather than intellectual, but it found its mark: he collided hard with something invisible and at once clung onto it as both it and he went crashing against the dead leaves covering the forest floor. The illusion of thin air was dispelled by the impact, revealing Loki sprawled underneath him, wide-eyed, thrashing, and above all hissing mad.  
  
"Loki—" Thor saw the glint of the blade just in time to pull his head back and save his eye from being impaled. He swatted Loki's hand aside and pinned it down by his head as the dagger dropped onto the forest floor, then captured the other one and trapped it on the other side. "Loki, I'm not here to take you back!"  
  
Loki responded with a venomous glare, but while he continued to squirm, some of the rigid tension in his muscles eased off. "Then why?" His voice was calmer than the rest of him, almost as though they were having the discussion on a sunny alcove in Asgard instead.  
  
Thor took a breath before he spoke. "To see you were safe."  
  
"Why wouldn't I be? Midgard is no Jotunheim." Loki relaxed further, but Thor didn't dare let go. It was more than likely his brother would take the opportunity to shapeshift into a snake and slither away underneath the nearest rock formation before he had made his point.  
  
It was then, as Thor waited for his breathing to fully calm down and tried to decide what his point _was_ , exactly, that he noticed just how snugly their legs and chests were pressed against one another, and how quick Loki's pulse was under his palm. He looked up at Loki's face, altered by his askew hair and the leaves around it, and studied his expression, his slightly parted mouth and curious rather than hostile eyes. Curious and... expectant?  
  
Without thinking, he leaned down and placed his lips on Loki's.  
  
For a few blessed moments, the forest was whited out by a brightness which, when Loki after only a heartbeat or two of hesitation responded to the kiss, engulfed all but the two of them and the present.  
  
Thor wanted to laugh, only he wished even more to continue the kiss. Everything made sense now, from the sheer extent of his wrath to his strange thoughts when they had last spoken. He felt so light he could have flown all the way back to Asgard even without Mjolnir.  
  
Then, perhaps inevitably, their surroundings began filtering back in, and he had to wonder just what he was doing. Was pinning Loki down and forcing a kiss on him much different from whatever foul deeds Thiassi had been plotting? Even if Loki reciprocated, could he trust it was truly his will to do so under the circumstances?  
  
He broke the kiss and jerked back, his face flushing with the horror of what he had done. "Loki, I... I'm sorry." He released Loki's wrists as though they were burning his hands, ready to accept a fresh stab as penance. "I will never do that again."  
  
Loki took a moment to catch his breath, looking more winded than angry. Finally, he inhaled slowly, and met Thor's eyes. "Actually, I rather hoped we could keep at it."  
  
Thor blinked. "What?"  
  
"Assuming you don't mind kissing a Jotun, that is." Loki's tone was dismissive, but his eyes were deadly serious.  
  
Truth be told, Thor hadn't even thought about it since the day before. "It makes no difference to me." He knew as he said it that it was not a lie, either.  
  
"Well. In that case, the question is whether you mind kissing your former brother."  
  
"Not former." Thor realised only in retrospect it wasn't perhaps the wisest thing to reinforce when the taste of Loki's lips still lingered on his mouth. But then, what of it? He had never been one to flee from something he had put in motion. "But I would kiss you again all the same, if you will allow it."  
  
Loki raised an eyebrow, but his widening, wry smile was answer enough.  
  
It was a dream, Thor decided. But if it was a dream, there was no harm in leaning down and falling back into the light.

 

* * *

  
  
Some time later, he made his way to the shimmering lake with Loki, seemingly deciding to see it in unison without ever speaking of it.  
  
He sat down on a flat rock protruding from the muddy shore and observed the calm waters with an eerie sense of kinship to its peacefulness. He knew he should have felt more conflicted, but in the moment, nothing could supplant the radiant warmth still growing within him.  
  
Perhaps inevitably, Loki was the one to bring them back to their present predicament. "How big was the uproar?"  
  
"You would have revelled in it." But this wasn't about Loki's off-beat sense of humour. "You will find this an inane question, but I have to be certain. Do you wish to marry Thiassi?"  
  
Loki's silence lasted long enough that Thor was forced to conclude he was genuinely considering the question. He nearly balked: had he been in Loki's shoes, he would have answered at once with what felt like the only obvious reply. But then, he had asked, and so he waited.  
  
Eventually, Loki shook his head. "No. Not after learning what it could well cost me."  
  
"Then I will do anything I can to prevent it," Thor said firmly. He half wished to know just what Thiassi had whispered to Loki, but a much greater portion of him decided he never wanted to make his brother re-live whatever it had been. It was for the best if neither of them thought too much about what might have happened if Loki had been left to fend for himself in Jotunheim.  
  
He glowered at the lake as he thought of Laufey's suspicious words, till eventually his mind drifted towards Odin. "In truth, I don't believe Father would force you to wed if you were to return home."  
  
Loki's response was to gaze in the direction of the open waters as though he was as much a statue as his decoy had been. "I'm glad one of us thinks that."  
  
"I mean it. He wishes to know what your will is."  
  
"What my will is," as he spoke, Loki approached the water and gazed down at his reflection, "is to have more time. I have a plan to make my position more secure, and while I could risk it now, I will be far more likely to succeed a week or two from now."  
  
What could possibly change in a matter of weeks? The phase of some moon? No, it had to be Father succumbing to Odinsleep. "If I could give you the time, I would."  
  
"You if anyone can do it, brother," Loki's voice was strangely sweet as he abandoned his reflection and sauntered over to Thor's side.  
  
Thor's heart swelled. "Then I shall."  
  
Loki reached down and lightly brushed Thor's hair off his neck, then straightened his back. "Try to look surprised."  
  
Even with the warning, the blinding, numbing pain at the back of his neck the instant later still took Thor by surprise without any trying.

 

* * *

  
  
When Thor came to, he found himself lying on the lakeside with his feet in the water, his head throbbing like it had been used as an anvil. He guessed from the unaltered sunlight that he had only been out for a few minutes. Loki was nowhere in sight.  
  
He groaned and dragged himself ashore, taking a moment to remove his soaked boots. Did Loki really have so little faith in his acting abilities to make genuine violence necessary?  
  
Still, even as he rubbed the back of his neck, anticipating the headache would get worse before it got better, he managed a smile.  
  
Very well. Let the games continue.


	6. Chapter 6

It was with a familiar dread that Thor greeted the messenger from Asgard, half anticipating Odin's patience had finally run dry and that this one soldier heralded the battalion of hunters he had threatened to send the last time he had contacted Thor. In fact, he was so fervently expecting the worst it took him a long moment to register what the messenger actually said.  
  
"I come bearing word from the queen, Your Highness."  
  
Frigga contacting him instead of Odin could mean many things, but the stab of hope in his chest insisted on one particular interpretation. "State it."  
  
"The All-Father has fallen into Odinsleep." The messenger's brow furrowed. "That is all she told me to say, but I anticipate she is eager for your return as well."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
Thor watched the messenger leave, glad though not surprised Heimdall didn't take the initiative to pull him up as well, then looked down at the city opening before him. The tower he had climbed gave him a good view of all the humans bustling along, on the street below and past the river snaking through the city, till finally his gaze settled on the forests and fields in the horizon. His and Loki's pretend game of hide and seek had, perhaps inevitably, soon moved to more civilised areas, and he had spent the past two weeks taking in the strangeness that was modern Midgard.  
  
For all the people he had been surrounded by, he had never felt more lonely. He had only caught the occasional glimpses of his brother and pretended he hadn't seen those, either. His lies on the subject hadn't been fully convincing if Odin's furrowed brow from when he had come to see him was anything to go by, but they had done their job.  
  
Loki had asked for time, and he had given him that. He could only hope it would be enough.  
  
"Shall we go?"  
  
He spun around and very nearly struck Loki with his elbow before steadying himself. His brother had crept upon him as silently as a shadow.  
  
"You heard, then?" When Loki nodded, Thor added, "How long have you been there?"  
  
"Long enough."  
  
Similarly, the answer was good enough. "Are you prepared?"  
  
"As prepared as I'll ever be, brother dearest." Though the appellation was oozing with sarcasm, Loki's touch on Thor's arm was feather-light and gentle.  
  
Thor grinned at him, then waited a moment longer to call on Heimdall to ensure the messenger had time to leave the Bifrost before they arrived. It worked: upon entering Asgard they were greeted by Heimdall alone.  
  
"If you seek the queen, she is in her chambers." Heimdall's greeting was as casual as it would have been if they had instead returned from a brief holiday.  
  
Thor nodded. "Are the frost giants still with us?"  
  
"Most of them have returned home. King Laufey remains to seek an end to the matter."  
  
"And Thiassi?"  
  
"Aye, he remains as well." Heimdall kept a straight face. "If you wish to keep a low profile, I recommend travelling through the rightmost corridor and avoiding the throne."  
  
Thor gave him his brightest smile, his already considerable affection for the watchman growing by the moment. "Thank you."  
  
They had already walked to the dome's entrance when Loki spun around, gazing at Heimdall with a strange expression."I would have assumed Father to order you to have me seized the moment I returned."  
  
Heimdall nodded in a ponderous manner that wasn't quite a confirmation. "And I continue to assume anyone leaving their wedding through the window has an excellent reason for doing so."  
  
Loki made no response. After a pause, he nodded and returned to Thor's side.  
  
"You climbed through a window?" Thor asked as they rushed across the Bifrost.  
  
"It's a figure of speech," Loki rebutted and hastened his steps. "Let's go."

 

* * *

  
They arrived in Frigga's rooms entirely undeterred, only to find them empty. Likely she had gone to go take care of matters of the state while they had snuck around patrols, or else to see how Odin was faring in his slumber.  
  
Thor exchanged a look with Loki, after which they sat down to wait as one man. The silence lasted till Thor realised he had no idea what they were supposed to do next. "So, what is your plan?"  
  
"Oh, yes." Loki had been toying with the fringed edge of the wall hanging behind him and now let it drop. "On the night before the feast, I went to the library to study the divorce laws of Jotunheim. I doubt I need to explain to you why." His smirk diminished. "While I was there, I decided to read up on other laws governing marriage, as well. I only had limited time in my hands, but I did stumble across some potentially useful things."  
  
"And?"  
  
"In the case of an inter-realm wedding, once a betrothal has been made, both parents must agree on behalf of their child to renege on the deal. Apparently, there was a succession crisis long ago as a result of a princess secretly cancelling a betrothal with one parent's assistance, hence the law." Loki's eyes gleamed. "Of course, it only applies if both parents are alive and accounted for. Only one is required if the other, to pick an entirely hypothetical example, falls into a deep slumber."  
  
Thor nodded, understanding dawning. Though Odin may also have agreed to cancel the wedding once Loki's distaste for it was made apparent, Frigga was all but guaranteed to do so.  
  
"The funny thing is, no parental approval is required to wed as long as no-one involved is betrothed to another." Loki's smile was knife sharp. "Hence, assuming Mother frees me from the contract, I will simply marry someone else. That should put an end to Jotunheim's claim on me for the time being."  
  
Thor's mouth fell open. "But marry whom?"  
  
"Anyone who will take me within the hour without an extraorbitant bribe and can be trusted to stay silent about what has passed. I would have married as soon as I arrived in Midgard, but the bond will look different depending on where it's formed. It will be more convincing if it's clearly woven in Asgard, and since the strength of the bond depends on the amount of sentiment between the couple, it requires all the persuasiveness it can muster otherwise." Loki shrugged. "After that, all that remains is providing some soothing words and gifts to the frost giants till they go away. Perhaps we could return to them the Casket of Ancient Winters."  
  
"A steep price, and a dangerous one." And not one either of them had the right to promise away, but that occurred to Thor only as an afterthought. After all, hadn't Odin tried to give away something far more precious?  
  
"Then we shall offer them something else. And if that doesn't work either..." Loki let the words peter out without conclusion, frowning.  
  
Thor frowned back. "I am not letting you leave with them. That is final."  
  
"Always so decisive." The fond smile on Loki's face faded. "First, we need Mother's approval. After that, I suppose we ought to grab whoever is nearest and see if they will agree to marry me."  
  
"No." Thor stood up, the thought that had been forming in his mind since Loki had brought up wedding another finally crystallising. "You should marry me."  
  
The hushed silence which followed filled the room.  
  
Loki blinked at him as though he had never heard him speak before. "What?"  
  
"Marry me." He walked before Loki, offering him his hands and pulling him upright when he, after a moment's thought, accepted them. "I told you I would do anything to help you. If marrying you is what it takes, then I shall marry you, no questions asked."  
  
He left out that seeing Loki wed anyone else even for convenience would make his insides tear themselves into shreds out of sheer jealousy. No doubt the sentiment burned already on his eyes, so he tried to push it back by instead focusing on his love itself.  
  
It must have worked: Loki's demeanour went from baffled to ponderous. He looked down at their interlocked fingers and gave them a small smile. "As convenient as that would be, I'm afraid brothers aren't allowed to marry."  
  
"They are, under one condition."  
  
They both looked up. Frigga stood in the doorway in her most regal gown, her chin held up high, and her eyes burning with a cool determination.  
  
"Follow me," she said.

 

* * *

  
  
"Will you, Thor Odinson, swear to be true?"  
  
The priest still looked uncomfortable with the proceedings, but the words he spoke rang clear and true. Thor nodded. "I swear."  
  
_"It is an ancient custom, older than any of us," Frigga said, keeping her eyes forward as though Thor hadn't asked anything and she was simply reciting her words to the air before her. "I will never know how my brother found out about it, or how he intended to succeed at receiving permission for it, but it appears that to secure family fortunes in times of crisis, our ancestors could allow nearly any wedding to take place, even between siblings."_  
  
"Will you, Loki Odinson," the priest faltered as he repeated the patronym, then regained his stride, "swear to be true?"  
  
Not once did Loki glance at the priest. His eyes were fully fixed on Thor. "I swear."  
  
_The law was forgotten, but never rescinded." Frigga lengthened her stride. "Even today, as long as an immediate family member allows it, such marriages may take place."_  
  
_"I don't except you will have to remain married long." Here, she finally turned to look at Thor. "You may separate as soon as this incident has been settled otherwise."_  
  
_He fought to keep the guilt from his voice. "Of course, Mother."_  
  
_"You are a good brother." And after that final twist of the knife, Frigga hurried him onwards._  
   
It had hurt, but Thor no longer felt any pain. How could he, when he held Loki's hands and waited for the priest to pronounce the decisive words?  
  
"Then may the two of you be bound together in wedlock." The priest took hold of the red sash tying their hands together and yanked it loose. "Now, go forth as one, till the Fates tear you asunder."  
  
Here, the priest concluded, dropping his official stance and mopping sweat of his brow with the sash.  
  
Thor hesitated. As minimal as the ceremony was, with no other witness to it but their mother, it was still meant to be magically binding. Why was nothing happening? "Do we have to consummate it for—"  
  
"Yes." Loki raised his eyebrow. "Considering the circumstances, anything too intimate is probably unwise."  
  
The comment was absurd enough that it made Thor laugh out loud. Good thing, too. Anything to allay suspicion. He settled for kissing Loki on the cheek, and from the satisfied look on Frigga's face, that was the correct choice.  
  
It appeared to be enough for the norns, too. A soft, blue glow enveloped their intertwined hands, briefly twisting into the shape of the rune for marriage before evaporating once more.  
  
Thor let go, staring at his hand in wonder. He didn't actually feel any different, but when he focused, he thought he could see a vapour-like shadow of the rune on his palm.  
  
Before he could ask Loki if he felt the same way,  there was a frank knock on the door. The same messenger who had informed Thor of his father's Odinsleep stumbled into the temple. "Your Majesty, King Laufey urgently requests your audience."  
  
Frigga's eyes narrowed. "Tell him he may have it." She sighed as soon as the messenger vanished. "The word of your return made it to him even faster than I expected. Are you prepared?"  
  
Thor looked at Loki and nodded.  
  
He felt for the ripples of comforting warmth running up his arm from the rune theentire time they walked over to meet their fate.

 

* * *

  
  
Only eight frost giants awaited them by the throne, including each one Thor knew by name except for Skadi, who had presumably become bored by the circus the event had become and gone home. They looked no less incongruous with their gilded surroundings than they had before, but mostly maintained a quiet dignity that nearly belied the visible tension in their postures.  
  
Thor exchanged the briefest of glances with Byleistr, who stood by the king's side and was calmest of all the Jotuns present, especially when compared to Thiassi whose eyes had narrowed on Loki the moment he had arrived. Thor made sure to stand close enough to Loki that he could move to shield him in a single step.  
  
All weapons remained sheathed as Frigga walked forward with the sure steps of a practised diplomat. She acknowledged both Laufey and Thiassi with a graceful nod before she spoke. "I would like to begin by apologising for the delay in the settling of our arrangement. I hope the hospitality we have provided during your wait has been sufficient."  
  
"Your words do you credit, and your hospitality has indeed been sufficient." In spite of the courteous words, Laufey's voice was as cold as his realm. His eyes trained on Loki. "I assume your son has come to his senses."  
  
"He has indeed." Frigga straightened her back. "Unfortunately, the marriage cannot proceed."  
  
A surge of surprise resonated through the frost giants. Thiassi was especially taken aback. Laufey, however, merely raised an eyebrow. "You cannot possibly renege on the deal now."  
  
"We have no choice." Frigga lowered her eyelids in such a convincing display of regret Thor nearly bought it himself. "Unbeknownst to both my husband and I, my son has been married for years now to a childhood sweetheart of his."  
  
Laufey's eyes narrowed to pinpricks. "Is this true?"  
  
Loki nodded. He bore himself well despite the murderous red eyes on him. "I feared my parents would consider the match beneath me, so I never told a soul. I wish to do my duty to the kingdom, naturally, but my duty is likewise to my spouse, and I realised too late I had to keep the vow I had personally given over the one given for me."  
  
Laufey digested the words for a moment, then nodded at Thiassi. "See if there is any truth to this claim."  
  
Thiassi separated himself from the group and held his hand up towards Loki. Loki raised his own hand in kind and pressed their palms together.  
  
A blue glow emerged at once, brighter even than it had been in the temple. Only, instead of entwining Loki and Thiassi, it formed a barrier between their hands.  
  
Thor felt his hand tingling, and hid it behind his back. He thought he saw the frost giant who had been with Laufey and Byleistr glancing in his direction and could only hope he wouldn't give the game away. Surely they wouldn't suspect something most everyone would think impossible?  
  
Thiassi let his hand drop, dispelling the glow. "It's true enough, I see. A great love, too, from the brightness of it." He returned to Laufey's side with a crestfallen air.  
  
"Had we known of this before, we would have acted sooner." Frigga's voice was so perfectly calm that even knowing her as well as Thor did, he could only barely see the hint of relief near the corners of her eyes. "As it is, I hope you can forgive us these awkward circumstances. We will naturally offer you parting gifts, and pray we may yet negotiate another agreement once my husband awakes. Next time, I shall participate in the meetings alongside him."  
  
Laufey looked unimpressed. "For all your blandishments, I cannot help but think Asgard wishes to add more insult to our injury."  
  
"As I see it, Father, we have nothing to gain by pressing the issue right here and now." Thor did a double take as he saw it was Byleistr who spoke. "We would likewise benefit from an opportunity to rethink our position on the matter."  
  
Laufey glared at his son — indeed, now that Thor looked at them side by side, he saw the familial resemblance between the warrior and the king —  but when he next spoke, his voice was much lighter. "Perhaps so."  
  
He turned towards Frigga. "We shall depart for now. Let it known that if Asgard wishes to maintain peace, the price shall be heavy indeed."  
  
"Indeed." Frigga's expression could have been carved from stone. "The blessings of the Fates be with you."  
  
Slowly, the frost giants turned around and departed towards the Bifrost. Only two lingered back: Thiassi, who cast one last sullen glance at Loki before trailing after the rest, just fast enough that Thor managed to keep himself from rushing over and giving him a clout around the head; and Byleistr, who locked gazes with Thor for a moment longer.  
  
Thor nodded at him — Loki's other brother, he realised, a strange notion he wasn't sure he could make any sense of — and received a nod in kind. Following that, Byleistr flashed Loki a quick smile, then turned and followed the others.  
  
And then, at least for now, they were gone.

 

* * *

  
After two weeks of sleeping wherever he could lie down, Thor's bed was almost too familiar. That didn't mean he didn't enjoy throwing himself on it and enjoying some well-deserved respite.  
  
Respite from having to take immediate action, anyway. The political situation was a muddled mess, and though Frigga appeared to be on top of it all, Asgard held its breath waiting to see how the situation would develop.  
  
Still, he felt hopeful. There had been no bloodshed yet, and if it came to a war, he was ready to stand in the front lines with Mjolnir, prepared to strike at anyone who thought Loki wasn't free to choose his spouse for himself.  
  
Just as he thought that, the door to his rooms opened, and Loki slipped inside.  
  
Thor scrambled upwards, but didn't make it off the bed before Loki entered his bedchamber. "Why are you here?"  
  
Loki smirked. "Do I need a reason to come see my husband?"  
  
The word _husband_ echoed so loudly within Thor's mind he didn't at first notice Loki had sat down next to him on the bedside. "Should you really call me that?"  
  
"It's fun." Loki tilted his head. "You try it."  
  
"No." Though Loki was indeed his husband, somehow uttering the word felt like a transgression. It was something he would have to ease himself into. The pleasant warmth the thought gave him soon cooled off. He likely didn't have the time to ease into anything. "How soon do you wish to annul the marriage?"  
  
"I haven't thought of it." A lie, probably, but uttered in a perfectly neutral tone. "Have you?"  
  
Only with dread. Indeed, it seemed to Thor this was as good a time as any to be completely honest. He had already plunged straight into the waters. Why not take a deep breath and dive into the depths? "I don't wish to annul it at all."  
  
Loki must have already known it, but he still turned to stare at him. Thor took his hand and continued. "I never thought we could truly be wed, and though it may be too soon, I wish to remain so. I cannot imagine my life without you."  
  
Loki smirked again, but he also squeezed Thor's hand. "Mother will wonder why we are yet to separate."  
  
"She might not ask." She would, one day, but Thor had always felt living in fear of the future was hardly different from being dead. "If she does, we will explain it."  
  
"Or make up a lie." As he spoke, Loki leaned forward, clearly angling for a kiss. Even with his misgivings, Thor was happy to share one with him. Their first real kiss as a married couple.  
  
The butterflies the thought gave him were still fluttering in his stomach when Loki broke the kiss and moved closer till their sides were pressed against one another.  
  
"You're a better kisser than I would have guessed, husband," he said the words teasingly, as though they had never kissed before, the new title flowing along with the rest like nothing was more natural. "I wonder if you're as good at other marital duties, too."  
  
Even as a trill ran across his stomach, Thor couldn't keep the smile off his face. He reached to embrace Loki, and as Loki returned the gesture, he felt the pulse of the magical ties binding their fates together resonating with that of their hearts.


	7. Epilogue: The Lay of Thiassi

Though he had entered the snowy gorge in a sour mood, as soon as Thiassi spotted Loki already waiting for him, staring at the icy walls with his hands clasping his heavy mantle closer to his body, he felt much like a hungry man invited to a surprise feast.  
  
He walked over to him, stepping hard to ensure he was heard, waiting for Loki to face him on his own accord. He needn't wait long: as soon as he was within hearing range, Loki turned towards him, slowly lowering his hood before returning to stillness.  
  
Thiassi paused just before him, standing up as straight as possible and making sure to puff out his chest. It was best to show at once he was not at Loki's beck and call, and was rather the master of the meeting regardless of who had initiated it.  
  
"You don't need that," he said, gesturing at Loki's mantle. Fur lining? Really? "The cold won't bite your flesh."  
  
Loki hesitated, then brought his hands before his face. As he pulled them back down, his Asgardian guise peeled away with them, revealing the blue skin and prominent veins of the Jotun race. Even beneath a cloudy sky, his red eyes were startling in their luminosity. "This flesh, you mean?"  
  
"That flesh, yes." Thiassi found himself struggling to maintain his stern expression as Loki shed the mantle, revealing garments which Thiassi knew following his stay in Asgard to be thin by the Aesir's standards. He had already guessed Loki would be even more pleasing to the eye in his true form, and his obvious discomfort in his own skin only enhanced his charms. The question now was whether he could get rid of the remaining clothes, as well.  
  
He made sure not to show his plans on his face as he next spoke, in a voice even cooler than their surroundings. "Does your spouse know you are in Jotunheim? I doubt they would appreciate our meeting."  
  
"My spouse doesn't need to know everything." Though Loki's tone signalled disregard, there was an edge of bitterness to it.  
  
Thiassi folded his arms. Nine days after he and the other frost giants had withdrawn from Asgard, affronted and nursing fresh grudges, his erstwhile betrothed had not only send him a covert message, but practically demanded a private meeting, with no word regarding what he wished to discuss. Thiassi was half expecting further insults, but Loki's demeanour hinted there might be more to the meeting than a desire to taunt him. Something he had rather anticipated, in fact. "We are as alone as we will ever be, my dear."  
  
"I hope so." Loki took the hint at once. Clever, for sure, but too young and inexperienced to ever catch Thiassi off-guard, as he would soon find out if he tried to lie to him. "I'm looking for your counsel regarding King Laufey."  
  
"I see."  
  
"Do you believe..." Loki paused, seeking for suitable words. The hesitation was a stark difference from his composed mien during their previous meetings, but the nervousness struck him as authentic. "If I were to seek an audience with him, would he receive me?"  
  
Thiassi tilted his head and pretended to consider his answer. "In time, perhaps," he allowed. "Currently, his wrath is such he is likely to have you killed on the spot if you dare so much as approach him."  
  
That the young man nodded like the answer was exactly what he had expected went to show he knew nothing of how well Laufey could master his anger. The king of Jotunheim would certainly have granted him an audience and likely safe passage back to Asgard, if only to further his plan to poison the boy against Asgard and ultimately have him kill the All-Father in their stead. Loki's ignorance was an unexpected boon, one Thiassi was happy to protect.  
  
"He might receive a message from you if I were to deliver it, however," he continued, relishing the hastily concealed spark of hope in Loki's supposedly indifferent eye. "Will you tell me why you wish to speak with him? Or..." He lowered his voice, "would you rather hear why I think you are here?"  
  
Loki gave him a suggestion of a nod. "By all means."  
  
It wasn't much of a puzzle, really. He and Laufey had discussed this very eventuality when considering their contingency plans. "I believe you are in two minds about your decision to reject Jotunheim. Perhaps you are no longer so eager to dwell in Asgard with your spouse?"  
  
Loki's expression didn't so much as twitch.  
  
"To put it in other words," Thiassi continued more bluntly, "you have discovered just how virulently hostile the Aesir are towards our kind, and now seek refuge here."  
  
Loki's stoicism lasted for a few moments longer, long enough for the wind to howl and abate once more. Finally, he hung his head and spoke in a voice younger than his years. "The word spread like wildfire. Fa- King Odin said there is little he can do for my sake now that the truth is out, and my husband..." He averted his eyes. "He already detested my decision to keep our marriage a secret, and once he heard of my heritage..." He broke off, frowning.  
  
Hearing that Laufey's proclamation had not only served to make Loki a pariah, but had severed his connection to his spouse was delightful indeed. Thiassi took a step closer and adopted a honeyed tone. "Never you mind, my little sorcerer. We will find you a fitting place in Jotunheim yet."  
  
Loki met his eyes. "So you will help me placate King Laufey?"  
  
"It depends entirely on you." First, Thiassi would have to determine whether Loki was earnestly seeking aid. "After what has passed between us, you can't expect to gain my support without compensation."  
  
Loki nodded at once. "Yes, I thought of that. As a show of goodwill, I am planning on stealing the Casket of Ancient Winters and returning it to the king."  
  
It was almost too good to be true: even information to help the frost giants retrieve their most sacred treasure would have been sufficient. The words were either a ruse, or a sign of desperation. It was time to discover which. Fortunately, the best way to do so might well net Thiassi a treasure of his own.  
  
He shrugged. "Such an offer will be well received, should Laufey deign to hear it." The key to lying was to insert as much truth to the words as possible. "But as we previously discussed, he will not see you. Your only hope lies with me."  
  
"That is why I hoped—"  
  
"Our kind has survived without the casket thus far, and we will ultimately regain it whether you act or not. What we have is plenty. It is you, rather, who needs a favour, and thus, I have little interest in aiding you unless you can offer me something more."  
  
Loki's silver tongue remained firmly behind his teeth as his eyes darted back towards the wall.  
  
"I am only asking for what would have been my right had we wed. Something you can readily offer as we speak." When Loki still didn't respond, Thiassi took another step toward him, so close he nearly brushed against the sorcerer. "No? Are we having second thoughts? If so..." He finally unleashed his smile, but all humour was gone from it, replaced by a wolfish hunger. "Can you provide me with a single reason why I would negotiate for what I can simply take?"  
  
Loki took a step back and swallowed in a manner clearly intended to look natural. "You would win my cooperation."  
  
Thiassi followed after him. "That is not entirely insignificant, but it matters to me far less than you seem to think."  
  
Loki kept backing away. Thiassi matched each step with one of his of his own, and it wasn't long till a single move would have brought Loki's back against the wall of the gorge. Loki realised it too, halting awkwardly just before the fatal step, turning his gaze towards his side. "Wait."  
  
Thiassi waited. Why rush, when they were all alone and he was close enough to seize the sorcerer before he could cast a single spell? Besides, he was enjoying watching Loki's composure unravel. How long would would it take to destroy the last levels of defence, he wondered. Not long, at this rate.  
  
Loki licked his lips, then gave Thiassi a smile didn't reach his eyes. "My cooperation comes with all my talents."  
  
"Talents?"  
  
"Yes. I'm highly skilled in many arts, and a quick study to boot." Loki kept scanning Thiassi's face for hints of approval as his voice grew thinner. "I assure you the talk about my silver tongue is true in more ways than one, but it is nothing compared to the rest of me. I will gladly show you, if only—"  
  
Thiassi raised a hand to cut off his babbling, maintaining a stony expression while smirking to himself. The sudden eagerness to please, combined with the shadows of authentic terror in Loki's eyes could only mean desperation. Desperation was good. Desperation he could work with.  
  
He allowed Loki to squirm a moment longer, then smiled. It was a subdued smile, and an indulgent one. Fatherly, almost. "We can discuss the details later." His smile widened as the tension in Loki's shoulders ease off. Good. He would have plenty of time to learn to fear him later. "That's right. As long as you know your place and do as you're told, you can rest assured you will be well taken care of, my dear."  
  
Loki still appeared hesitant, but even a blind man could have seen he was swaying towards putting himself in Thiassi's power. He was clever enough to see it was his only real choice, if perhaps not where it would ultimately lead. Even if he did, he finally nodded. "I understand."  
  
"As will Laufey, I am sure." Again, Thiassi closed the distance between them, gratified Loki made no move to avoid his hands as he took hold of his shoulders. "The casket may not be what he sought this time, but he will delight in it regardless."  
  
"Wait!"  
  
Thiassi frowned at Loki's outburst, more an order than a plea. When Loki turned his gaze back to him, however, he saw from his wide-eyed, eager stare that he hadn't meant to vex him. "What did he seek? Perhaps I could acquire it instead of the casket."  
  
Thiassi chuckled and pulled him closer, ignoring a groan from the surrounding ice that sounded almost like a growl. "It's your foster-father's head he wants above all else, my dear. He hoped you could be trained to utilise your sorcery and ready access to the All-Father to assassinate him."  
  
Even now, revealing the plan was a gamble, but Thiassi knew it had paid off when instead of scandalised, Loki grew thoughtful. "Kill the All-Father...?"  
  
"An interesting prospect, is it not?" Thiassi massaged Loki's shoulders, trying to feel the supple flesh underneath the needless layers of fabric. "You will be richly rewarded for your efforts should the plan be put in motion, of course, but before that..."  
  
"I understand." Loki closed his eyes. Thiassi took it as his cue to free both of them from their remaining garments.  
  
He hummed as he undid the clasp at the base of Loki's neck, but as he was about to drag the robe off his shoulders, Loki suddenly took a step back, extracting himself from his embrace with such nimbleness it bordered on sorcery. "Good. Now you can hit him."  
  
Thiassi had no time to do anything but frown and turn his attention towards the empty air Loki was addressing when suddenly, the empty air was replaced by Thor Odinson, his eyes flaming with a bright fury and his arm pulled back for a strike.  
  
The impact which followed rattled his teeth right out of his gums.

 

* * *

  
  
"Well." Loki's eyes followed Thiassi's impressive if less than graceful flight through the air till he was nothing but a speck in the horizon. Already, he had reassumed his Asgardian form. "You certainly didn't hold back."  
  
Thor grunted, still seeing red. "It was kinder than he deserved."  
  
Loki said nothing, but the sombre shadow on his face suggested he agreed.  
  
"Is everything all right?" The air rippled as Byleistr, who had kept his distance in spite of the spell keeping him and Thor cloaked, claiming whatever they might discuss wasn't his to eavesdrop, joined them in the gorge.  
  
"All went as planned." Loki squinted into the distance, but there was nothing there but the snow and the sky. "What happens if he lives?"  
  
"Not much, I would say. Thiassi is a prideful man, and Father takes great stock in his ability to tell truth from falsehood. He would never willingly admit he could be so thoroughly tricked." Byleistr shook his head. "I mean no offence to your acting talents, but I am stunned he fell into such an obvious trap."  
  
Loki's smile was on the thin side. "It's the same with lies as it is with illusions. They work better when the target is eager to believe them. In any case," he continued brightly, "we learned enough. "Father will be very interested to hear of the means King Laufey meant to use to dispose of him."  
  
Byleistr looked unconvinced, so Thor tasked himself with smiling for two. Odin would absolutely appreciate such knowledge. It might even be enough to sweep the entire incident under the rug as far as Thor and Loki were concerned.  
  
He turned towards Byleistr. "Thank you for your assistance." After all, Loki's other brother had found them a suitable meeting spot and helped deliver the message.  
  
"I would have done the same for any brother of mine," said Byleistr with a dismissive wave of his hand, then looked at Loki. "I hope we can meet again soon. Perhaps next time, I will bring Helblindi as well. He said he would like to get to know you."  
  
Loki nodded. "The pleasure is mine."  
  
Byleistr nodded at them both and left, soon swallowed by the snow.  
  
"Good man," said Thor after he was gone, with less admiration than he had meant to convey.  
  
"Is that jealousy I hear?" Loki's smile was mischievous as he leaned to better scrutinise Thor's expression. "Concerned I've gained a taste for kissing brothers and would like to try what he has to offer now that I have had my fill of you?"  
  
As Thor opened his mouth to claim nothing could have been further from his mind, Loki took the opportunity to lean in for a kiss, one that made Jotunheim feel as warm as the brightest summer's day in Asgard.  
  
"No fear," Loki continued when they parted, softly. "I would rather keep kissing you. For the time being, at least."  
  
His tone was so blatantly teasing Thor couldn't help but smile. It didn't last as his mind drifted back to what had just happened.  
  
He placed his arm around Loki's shoulders. "You played your part well." It had been Loki's plan, luring Thiassi in such a manner, but though he appeared unruffled by the experience, Thor had to wonder. It had been hard enough watching the discussion from the sidelines, waiting for Loki's signal, being told to wait even after Thiassi's threats had become so direct and vile he thought his bones would burst aflame if he didn't strike at once.  
  
Loki quirked an eyebrow. "Did you expect something less?"  
  
"No." Loki's acting abilities had never failed him during any of the tricks they had played together. "Only..." It was only after he had already spoken that Thor realised Loki might take his words as an insult. "You were brave to face him."  
  
Loki gave him a long, appraising look, raising his eyebrow to its apex. He then looked away.  
  
"Nothing brave about it. Not when you were by my side."  
  
Thor stared. Loki's expression remained impassive, but he was relatively sure he wasn't delirious from the cold and that his brother — no, _husband_ — had in fact uttered those words.  
  
He didn't have the time to reflect on them, as Loki was already striving ahead, eyes towards the open skies. "Come. Let's go home."  
  
Hearing the final word from Loki's lips and knowing he referred to Asgard was more than enough to make Thor grin from ear to ear as he joined Loki's side and raised his hand together with him to take them home.


End file.
